USA 2011: day 20-22 San Francisco

City life, quite a change after 3 weeks of nature, national parks, hikes and camping life. Back to (dis)organized life in a big big city. Handed in the RV and took a stakeout from the Best Western Americiana near Union Square. By itself ok, room even has a little sofa area so nice to spend the rest of the evening while the kids are in bed. The area itself has quite a number of tramps, drunks and drug addicts but not an issue as we did not really roam the streets after dark. So instead of hiking in nature we have now walked miles in the city, off course a ride in the famous cable cars can not be skipped and spend hours in the Bay area, Fishermen's Wharf and not an insignificant amount of time SHOPPING :-) We do need to stock up with some new clothes and with the dollar in our favour. Good that we brought that fully empty suitcase with us. San Francisco is a great city, very divers, loads of little small areas to have a drink and a stroll. Took a hike up the hill to Lombard street, the famous curvy street on russian hill.

We biked the bridge, Guus on his own bike and Malou in a cart, great timing we had, was perfect weather, nice breeze, the bridge clear of fog and to finish it off a great lunch with calamari, and filet mignon at the first Italian after the bridge in Sausolito. We got to taste the wines first before we ordered a glass, so enjoyed some good wines in the sun. Really a good way to spend an afternoon at the Bay.

Today, monday 11 july, our last day already, we had the first boat booked to Alcatraz, I was warned to book that in advance and a good thing that we did as all tickets would have been sold out otherwise. Amazing to listen to all the stories on the audiotour, the escapes and way of life in the prison, a place so remote and so close to the city that inmates good always hear the noises of good life outside of prison on the expensive yachting clubs, the fireworks etc. The kids liked the boattour better I guess :-). To celebrate a very good holiday we went to the movies and watched Cars 2. Guus was completely in awe and have to admit we all had a good time, it is very different cars than the first but very enjoyable. Now what remains is packing up, and flying back to the Netherlands. Also a nice thought, to come 'home'. Home sweet home. To all good things comes an end but for certain a memorable holiday.

USA 2011: day 19 Monterey

WOW.....Guus and Malou and we admit it, actually all four of us. We did not know where to look. Whales, where? Everywhere!!! Truly astonishing, we left at 7.30 in the morning to make sure we were on time for the boat, about an hours drive from Riverside campsite at the Big Sur to Monterey. As it was quite foggy at that time, no real scenic views of Bixby bridge (more an old bridge in my mind than a nice bridge) or Carmel. But not to worry as the southern stretch of highway 1 was in our eyes better. Checked in for the boat and off we went. A marine biologist was on board, explaining what we potentially could see, birds and all kinds of information about the whales. It was still very cloudy, sea state was a nice swell (at least that is what we thought of it - they have not had as many seasick people on board for a long time). And about 30 minutes into the trip, the show started, humpback whales feeding on their side with wide open mouths, diving for extra krill, they usually travel in pairs.

Very special we saw two fin whales, only the blue whale is larger. Guus was really hoping that we would see a blue whale, it is his favourite animal. And luckily we did. Man what is that whale large, 70 to 90 feet so up to 30m almost. That was longer than the boat was!!!! The guide said that it was an unexceptional day, so many whales and very close to shore.

So instead of a 4-5 hour trip it was shortened to 3 and we were escorted back to base by the coastguard for assistance just in case as we had some very sick people on board whom even required medical attention. Not to worry about us, we were happily eating cookies and lunch so all four of us are sea-proof. We definitely will go more out on sailing trips in the near future :-) We stayed overnight near Santa Cruz, actually for the first time really needed to put fleeces and longer pants on, quite chilly, maybe Lake Havasu has really reset our thermometers to the right temperature!! Cleaned out the RV and enjoyed together with some great neighbours from Gouda our last night and their first night with the RV's around the campfire. And now it is time for the last 3 nights in San Francisco.

USA 2011: day 17-18 Big Sur

The route of all routes... highway 1 or better known as the Big Sur. A road curving the mountains, some parts so unstable that many rockslides require a lot of extra roadwork and even completely block it sometimes. That happened in April, luckily the road was open, regulated single lane otherwise it would have been quite some extra driving. We passed an area where elephant seals are lying on the beach (in Malou's terminology chillen on mine billen), amazing, now in summer time they can lay on the beach for up to a 100 days.

Only when all the hairs have fallen off they will go back into the water and migrate up to Alaska to feed. These seals are gigantic, some 5 meters or so. We had an amazing campsite, only 34 places right on the bluff, cliff overlooking the ocean.

Watch a great sunset and set around the campfire with two lovely local couples. Mid twenties or so, with some completely different lifestyles. Quite funny as well to wake up in the morning with no view at all. We were warned already for it, but funny to experience to be completely fogged up till midday or so. So some nice time to go on a hike in Limekiln Statepark before continuing our trip up north (very slowly as we only have to go 30 miles or so today). Now hooked again, back on the grid with electricity and water in Big Sur. Quite funny as well, full signal on wifi but absolutely no telephone reception.

USA 2011: day 14-16 Californian coast

At Starbucks so enjoying some nice coffee and free internet. We have been camping at state parks Leo Carilo in Malibu and Montana de Oro. No internet, back to basics but great camping. Off now to drive up on the Big Sur. Updates will follow in acouple of days :-)

Hooked up again. The long drive back to the coast paid off, some nice camping and scenery to enjoy on the Californian coast, Malibu and slowly moving towards the Big Sur. Amazing villa's you pass along the way, a real contrast with some other areas we drove through. Really good that we have all the campings booked upfront in April already as they are actually all full. Last minute planning does not really work here. Good spots are gone the first. Great ocean views, spotting of marine life, some relaxing times at the beaches after some minor hikes.

Minor fireworks for fourth of July, some people brought some to the beach - officially not allowed but who cares :-) Montana de Oro, really fabulous place, nice bluffs and breakers and best of all, migrating whales. We will go on a trip whale watching later but this was a great introduction to the kids.

USA 2011: day 13-14 Lake Havasu

OK we are definitely weather proof now!! Lake Havasu is roughly on the middle of our drive back to the Californian coast and so a good place to have a break. And it turned out to be a good break!! On arrival here on saturday the heat record was not broken but it had not been as hot in the last 5 years: the temperature was 123 F so 50.5 degrees Celsius. I can tell kind of hot but surprisingly good to withstand in the pool with a can of corona in your hand :-) We met some great people, very nice, a family who always comes here from the LA area, park there RV for 4 months and then drive up every weekend for a cruise on the lake. I can tell cruise in the serious meaning of it!! We got invited to join them, a sort of river pontoon (still doing 45 km/hr) and 3 speedboats to have a day out on the lake on sunday. We all loved it!!

We bought some lifejackets for the children and off we were. We propelled some 30 miles up the river across from the lake to where the interstate IS40 crosses it and there we just spend the day. Chatting, swimming, standing in the water, bbq-ing and drinking, allthough coors lite as you can drink more of it as it contains less alcohol. An interpretation of safer boating :-) Guus could not get enough of all the big speedboats and powerboats he saw. So now he states: when I grow up I will buy a porsche and I will get a speedboat. We told him that he really should do well in school then to which his reaction was well but when I am older I can read really well :-) The logic of a child, everything comes with age. Kinda true.

The day ended with a spectacular display of fireworks in the form of lightning, no thunder as it was too far south. But amazing lightning, never seen anything like it. And now at 6.30 in the morning some rain is falling, but still tropical temperatures. We are preparing for our last long stretch to the coast today, going to Malibu, hopefully see some great firewoks as it is the 4th of July, independence day!

USA 2011: day 12 Guus 7 year

1 Juli 2004, a very special day for us. Guus was born, our son. And today this little lad turned 7!! Something to celebrate here in Lake Powell. Sjoerd made a brownie cake for him, we relaxed a lot. Went swimming in the lake first as the temperature was already nice at 7 am in the morning. The water in the lake is really refreshing, not warm as the Caribbean sea but as it is fed by mountain run off not very chilly either. The highlight of the day was for all of us the ride to Upper Antelope Canyon. The children like the rough 4 wheel drive through a dry thick sandy riverbed the best while Sjoerd and myself the canyon itself. A photography paradise!!

Erosion of water over many many years has carved out a canyon in windblown sandblown. The pattern, the colors and the light fall on the rock formation make this a special place. We were warned that the canyon is 'a bit' commercialized which resulted in the feeling of cattle being pushed through a narrow channel. Besides that we think it was well worth it, we saw where we came for, we got our pictures, loads of them actually, about 150 in total :-) and we had a great time. As Sjoerd was on the photography tour and came back an hour later I went with the children out for lunch which was a feast on itself.

After another relaxing hours on the beach at the lake, yes even Sjoerd had a swim!! We went out to the Mexican Fiesta to celebrate Guus birthday. It was good, unfortunately the aftermath less as Guus woke up with stomach issues to put it nicely. But that was already the 2nd of July :-) so the first was a memorable day and in his own words " this is my best birthday in America", our little diplomat.

USA 2011: day 10-11 Grand Canyon

We did it!! We saw the Grand Canyon in exactly 24 hours. And what an experience, amazing, everybody always says wow it is so great.... we can only nod and agree. Man what a place!! Truly a place not to miss on earth. We are part of the roughly 10% of total Grand Canyon visitors that visited the North Rim. Therefore, it was not overly crowded, Yosemite was 10 times worse. First thing we did was enjoy the view over a glass of wine at the Lodge. It was quite windy with the first rain in 2 months, well rain, the occasional drop. Not an issue for us. :-)

We took it quite easy, no major hikes, just pure enjoyment of scenery and lots of ooh's and aahhh's. Due to early booking we had a reservation at the North Rim campsite, amazing we reserved the last spot here in April!!! But a nice one, completely between the pines, as usual private fire place and as we were told by the ranger quite lucky as from the tomorrow (so today) no open fire, campfire, bbq-ing would be allowed. So Sjoerd really showed off with the steaks made on a pinecone fire. The kids had a blast with the campfire session led by the ranger, it was a play on how the Grand Canyon had formed, interactive geology play where most children participated. Malou was the Hermit shale with loads of fossils and she acted well with laying on the ground. :-)

After a cold (8 degrees C) night we woke up with clear skies and set off for the Cape Royal road. A scenic drive to an outlook point at the rim, what a scenery, meadows rimmed by pines, sneak peak views of the canyon and an amazing view to the east and south of the canyon 270 degrees round view of Marble Canyon where the Colorado river springs and the Grand Canyon. No better place than lunch at the canyon rim before we drove off to Page in Glen Canyon recreational area at Lake Powell.

Here we will be spending two nights instead of one. And what a temperature difference from a nice 24 degrees at the Grand Canyon at 8800 feet to 37 degrees here at Lake Powell at 3750 feet.